Realizations
by goldpiece
Summary: While on a date, Brennan has a realization about her relationship with Booth. Slightly spoilerish for season five.


_AN: Kinda spoilerish for season five, but not really. Could conceivably happen at any point in Booth and Brennan's present/future._

Brennan sat in the 'Founding Fathers' across from her date, Andrew. She found the man to be interesting and funny, and he didn't seem to mind the fact that she was interested in her work. Of course, that could also have to do with the fact that he worked for the FBI and at his level as Director had to have that same passion for his own career.

She took a sip of her wine and watched as he cocked his head, looking at her. It was as if she were a puzzle he was trying to figure out.

"What," she asked as he continued to stare at her.

"I'm just trying to understand what it is that Booth doesn't see in you."

"I beg your pardon?" Brennan frowned and set down her wine glass. She'd promised Booth that she wouldn't talk to Andrew about him, especially since Booth had insisted that the only thing she had in common with his boss was the fact that they both knew and worked with him.

"How is it that he can resist such a beautiful and intelligent woman? I don't think that I would have been able to resist you for very long. Hell, we haven't known each other that long and I wasn't able to resist you. How does he do it?"

"You know, I'm really not that comfortable discussing Booth," she responded and looked away from the intense way he was watching her. "I promised him he wouldn't be a topic of conversation."

"You're pretty open with him, aren't you?"

"Of course I am. He's my partner, and one of my best friends."

"Oh, I get it now. This is one of those 'When Harry Met Sally' males and females can't be friends things, where you just won't admit that there's something going on between you."

"What? No. Booth has never shown an interest in me, and he's the one that said that people in our professions shouldn't be in relationships."

"So you're interested in him then?"

"Huh? No, he's just my partner. I'll admit that he is an attractive male and has many attributes that would make him an ideal mate, we just don't have that type of a relationship." Andrew looked as if he didn't believe a word she was saying. She couldn't quite understand why he would look that way. "Anyway, you and I agreed not to discuss him and I'd appreciate it if we didn't bring him up again."

"Fair enough," her date responded and took a sip of his wine. "Anything you want to know about me? I'm pretty much open to any line of inquiry."

"I assume that the reason you've remained unmarried is because you're focused on your career." Andrew laughed at the blunt way that she phrased her observation. It really was refreshing to have someone be so honest in their interactions.

"To tell you the truth I've never been interested in marriage. Why shackle yourself down to one person for the rest of your life, you know? I mean yeah, I'm interested in having a relationship, but if I lose interest in that person it just makes it easier to break it off, you know?"

"I agree. Marriage is a societal construct that has its roots in ownership of the female and really has no place in modern society. I've never been interested in that type of a commitment either, although Booth seems to think that I'll change my mind on the subject."

"You and Booth have discussed marriage before?" Andrew looked surprised. He'd been in the FBI long enough to know that wasn't the type of thing that you discussed with your partner regardless of how close you were.

"Not discuss it per se, but we have talked about it during several of our cases. He keeps trying to prove to me that marriage is worth it, and when you love someone it's the logical course for a relationship, but I just don't believe in love like he does."

"I am amazed that two people as different as the two of you are can work so well together. You ever wonder about that?"

"Sweets said that our skill sets complement each other and that's why we have such a successful partnership. I thought we agreed not to talk about Booth."

"Sorry, I wasn't expecting the conversation to turn back that way." Andrew leaned in a bit across the table as he looked at Brennan. She was completely engaged in the conversation and the evening, which was a relief for him. He'd been worried that Temperance had only agreed to go out with him because he was Booth's superior. Apparently that wasn't a factor to her.

"You know, it's rather refreshing to find someone who isn't interested in marriage or having a family. I've found that a lot of the time I'm at odds because my disinterest in both seems to be a turn off, regardless of the fact that it would free up my partners from the same confines that they're against in the first place."

"I guess most men expect a woman to want the whole package and it throws them off if they don't want that lifestyle."

"I will admit that I did entertain the idea of having a child for a short time."

"Really? I never would have pegged you as the motherly type." Brennan frowned at that. Okay so she liked kids and she got along with them, but why wouldn't she be the maternal type? She took excellent care of Andy.

"Yes, in fact I asked Booth to donate his sperm." Andrew nearly choked on the wine he'd taken a drink of.

"And he said no I'm assuming?"

"No, he agreed to the donation. I still have it available if I decide to continue with the process."

"So let me get this straight. The two of you have no interest in seeing each other in a capacity other than professional and yet you were going to have a child together."

"No. I decided to have a child and wanted someone who I felt would have excellent genes to pass on be the father. There's no guarantee that going to a sperm bank would provide the traits that I was looking for."

"And Booth agreed to it? Wow, that's… so what changed your mind about having his child?"

"He informed me that he couldn't allow me to use his sperm if he couldn't have an active role in raising the child, so I told him I wouldn't have one."

"Wow, that is harsh." Andrew shook his head as he looked at the rational and beautiful woman across from him. "All this time I thought it was Booth who wasn't interested in you, but I guess I was wrong."

"What do you mean?"

"Well it's no wonder you wouldn't be together romantically if you wouldn't even allow him to be a father to his own child." Brennan opened her mouth to speak, but for one of the few times in her life, she had absolutely nothing to say. It took a moment for her to wrap her mind around what he'd just told her, but when it did, she stood up and fled the table. Andrew watched her, stunned until she came back a moment later and faced him.

"I'm sorry for this Andrew, but I need to go. Thank you for dinner though." With that she left without another word said between them.

XxXxX

Booth sat on his couch, sipping on a beer as he watched a UFC fight. He'd hoped that the fight would allow him to get his mind off of the fact that his partner, his Bones was currently on a date with his boss. Grimly, he wondered if this was how she'd felt when he was dating Cam. He let out a sigh and took another gulp of his beer. Unfortunately the fight was doing nothing to get his mind off of his partner. Instead he had absolutely no problem at all imagining Brennan in the ring kicking the ass of whoever she was put up against.

He grumbled to himself as he pulled himself up off of the couch at the sound of a knock at the door. He wasn't expecting any company and to be perfectly honest, he wasn't in the mood to see anyone anyway. As he swung the door open, he couldn't have been more surprised to see his partner as he was at that moment.

"Bones, what are you doing here?" He moved aside as she brushed in past him. He'd barely closed the door when she turned to look at him, a completely bewildered expression on her face.

"I'm sorry," she said. They looked at each other for a long moment, but Booth was having a hell of a time trying to read his partner.

"Okay, I'll bite. What are you sorry about?"

"Everything."

"I'm still lost here Bones. You're really going to have to explain what you're talking about 'cause I'm not a mind reader."

"Andrew and I talked about you the entire time we were out to dinner. I know that I said that we wouldn't talk about you, but we did, so…" Booth frowned at his partner and guided her over to his couch so he could face her while they talked.

"So you talked about me."

"Yes."

"And that deserves an apology?"

"Yes."

"If you say so Bones. Was that all, or was there something else?"

"I'm not disinterested Booth." The FBI agent was still at a complete loss as to what his brilliant partner was getting at that she had presumably left a date early to tell him this.

"I would hope you weren't disinterested. That's the purpose of a date, isn't it?"

"What are you talking about?"

"What are you talking about Bones? Isn't that why you went on a date with my boss, because you're interested in him? I believe you said that you were both attracted to each other."

"Right. Yes I did in fact say that, but while out to dinner with him, I realized that I haven't been entirely fair to you."

"Yeah well turnabout's fair play right? I dated your boss, you date mine."

"That's not what I meant Booth. Andrew said something at dinner that made me realize that I haven't been entirely fair to you by ignoring the signals you've been sending out."

"Bones, what exactly are you saying?"

"I'm saying that while I've known that I've been attracted to you for quite some time I've been ignoring the fact that I'm interested in you in ways which are not congruent to a professional relationship."

"So you think I'm hot and want to date me?"

"Yes, I believe that's what I said."

"Okay, somehow that's not exactly how I pictured that conversation going."

"You've thought about us dating?" Booth snorted as she said that and rubbed the back of his neck, wondering exactly how much he could say without her closing up on him. Oh to hell with it, he thought.

"Bones, I've dreamt that we were married and expecting a child together. What do you think?" She looked like a deer in headlights for a moment before regaining her control.

"How long exactly have you felt this way?" Her mind flitter back to a case they'd worked two years previously when he'd joked about marrying her.

"Does it really matter Bones?"

"No, I guess it doesn't."

"So, what are we going to do about this?"

"Do about what?" Booth looked at her incredulously. She couldn't possibly be serious, could she?

"Us? Our relationship? What do you think I meant?"

"Oh. How about dinner tomorrow, say seven o'clock?"

"Yeah, sure I guess. I'll pick you up?"

"Great." Brennan leaned in to place a kiss on Booth's cheek, but he turned to meet her lips with his own instead. Hell, he thought. If she's really going to kiss me, we're going to do this properly. Their lips met and for a moment, both of them forgot how to breathe. This was what it was meant to feel like between them. This was where they were supposed to be. And as the kiss deepened, they both realized that dinner tomorrow would only be a continuation of what was sure to be an incredible night tonight.


End file.
